Abstract

The purposes of this study were to investigate the construct validity and reliability , and to analyze the relationships of children's emotional intelligence with temperament, and cognitive ability. For the study, 973 children were participated. They were 3-6 year olds selected from 8 kindergartens located in Kumi, Chungju, Kimchon. Three instruments were used; 'Emotional Intelligence Rating Scale for Preschool Children(EIRSPC)' developed by the researcher, 'Temperament Rating Scale(Chun, 1992)', and 'Multidimensional Cognitive Abilities Test for Children(Sung et al., 1995)'. The statistical analysis include reliability tests, and factor analysis were used. Pearson's correlations were used to find out relationships of children's emotional intelligence with temperament, and cognitive ability. The results from this study were as follows : Six factors of children's emotional intelligence were identified. These were 'utilization of emotion, 'empathy', 'appraisal and expression of self emotion', 'regulation of emotion , 'relationship between child and teachei , and 'relationship with peers'. Children's emotional intelligence score were significantly related with three temperament factors. Children's emotional intelligence were positively related with the 'physiological responses', and 'positive child's emotional responses'. In contrast children's emotional intelligence were negatively related with the 'active responses'. Children's emotional intelligence score were positively related with cognitive ability, especially, 'inference ability', 'perceptivity', 'creativity' 'problems solving', and 'originality in thinking'. Cronbach a of the scale ranged from .95 - 96. The range of inter-racers reliability was .75 - .99 for the total scale, , and test-retest reliability were .87, and .89, which were considered good.